The Taconite fire chief has been sentenced to probation after admitting that he was intoxicated when he caused an all-terrain vehicle crash that left a woman seriously injured this summer.
Dustin James Sipe, 33, pleaded guilty last week in State District Court in Grand Rapids to a gross misdemeanor charge of third-degree driving while impaired.
Sipe, who also serves as a city councilor in Taconite, admitted that he was drinking before he crashed his new Polaris Ranger side-by-side along Stephens Street in Taconite around 2:30 a.m. on June 26.
His passenger, 27-year-old Tammy Jo Manning of Marble, was thrown from the rear box of the ATV and suffered severe head injuries. Manning was airlifted to a Duluth hospital with what authorities initially described as life-threatening injuries.
Authorities said Sipe had slurred speech, was unsteady on his feet and smelled strongly of alcohol, and admitted to the deputy that he had been drinking from about 7 p.m. until about one hour before the incident. A preliminary breath test placed his blood-alcohol concentration at 0.18 percent, twice the legal limit for driving.
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Manning, a mother of two young boys, was eventually released from the hospital on Sept. 30, but still requires 24-hour care for her injuries, family members told the court at sentencing, according to the Grand Rapids Herald-Review.
Ninth Judicial District Judge Korey Wahwassuck placed Sipe on three years of supervised probation in lieu of one year in the Itasca County Jail. Among the conditions of probation, Sipe must undergo a chemical dependency assessment, refrain from alcohol and drug use and pay $885 in fines and fees.
A felony charge of criminal vehicular operation was dismissed under the plea agreement with the Itasca County Attorney's Office.
